Estonia denounces 'unprecedented' violation of its airspace by three Russian fighter jets

(AFP) The Foreign Ministry of Estonia denounced that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated its airspace on Friday. It is a member of the European Union (EU) and NATO.

"The incursion took place over the Gulf of Finland, where three MiG-31 fighter jets of the Russian Federation entered Estonian airspace (...) and remained there for a total of 12 minutes," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Russia has already violated Estonian airspace four times this year, which is in itself unacceptable. But today's incursion, which involved three fighter jets (...), is of unprecedented brazenness," said Estonian diplomacy chief Margus Tsahkna, quoted in the statement.

"Such acts cannot be tolerated and must be sanctioned with swift political and economic measures," the foreign minister added on the X social network.

The ministry indicated having summoned the charge d'affaires of the Russian embassy to protest this violation.

Previous violations took place on May 13, June 22 and September 7.

The Baltic countries, all strong supporters of Ukraine but lacking fighter aircraft of their own, have entrusted surveillance of their airspace to other NATO allies, who take on this task in turn. Since August, the mission has been carried out by Italian aviation.